The NBA dropped the ball with its playoff TV scheduling
NBA commissioner Adam Silver
Only one NBA first-round series went to a Game 7. And nearly half of it aired on NBA TV.
The Cleveland Cavaliers start three All-Stars and a former No. 3 overall pick in Evan Mobley. Orlando has 2022 No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero, an All-Star who will be playing on the US Olympic team this summer, as well as seven other lottery picks.
Yet their series has had the lowest-profile of all eight NBA postseason matchups. Three games aired on NBA TV, which meant they were also blacked out to League Pass viewers in the Orlando and Cleveland markets, which extended all the way to Pittsburgh for the Cavaliers.
Even their nationally-televised games have drawn the earliest starting times – 1 p.m. EST for their weekend games.
The Magic only had one traditional nationally televised game all season, a Feb. 12 matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder that aired on TNT. That was the Magic’s first regular-season home game on TNT or ESPN since 2013.
If the NBA really wants to promote its next generation of stars, it could start by putting exciting young players like Banchero, Franz Wagner, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley on telecasts where more fans would see them. It’s no wonder that young stars want to move to bigger markets when those cities are the ones that overwhelmingly get the best TV showcases.
Of course, after the Magic blew an 18-point lead to lose Sunday’s Game 7 106-94, maybe the league wishes fewer people had seen it.
Want more articles like this? Follow Yardbarker on MSN to see more of our exclusive NBA content.
More must-reads:
Trending slideshow: Forgotten NBA stars from the LeBron era (Provided by Yardbarker)